Well tubing port control



May 24, 1938.

A. M. CHRISMAN WELL. TUBING 70m CONTROL Filed Dec. 15, 1957 j/VVEIVTOR A/beri M 67705075 0 ATTORNEY Patented May 24, 1938 I 2,118,428 WELL TUBING roar ooN'mor.

Albert M. Chrisman, Avenal, CaliL, assign'or to Standard Oil Company of California, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application December 15, 1937, Serial No. 179,900

This invention relates to an apparatus for 9 Claims.

producing an oil and gas well from a number of formations or zones differing infiuid content and pressure, and particularly refers to means for impervious non-productive formations.

Certain of these productive formations may have entirely different fluid or gas and oil contents as well as varying pressure characteristics from those formations aboveor below'them. For example, an upper formation or productive zone may be of such character that the release of a' large quantity of gas at high pressure is required'to produce a relatively small quantity of oil, so the zone is said to have a high gas oil ratio. this zone, and separated from it by one or more Below impervious and non-productive formations, may

be a zone in which the gas pressure is low, but

the type or condition of the oil is such that a relatively small quantity of gas will lift to the surface a relatively large quantity of oil, so that the zone may be said to have a low gas oil ratio. An unfortunate characteristic of a condition as just outlined is the low gas pressure of the lower zone, which reduces its initial natural flow of oil, v and, due to the inevitable decrease in formation pressure, soon requires mechanical pumping. In certain fields, due to the depth of these formations, such pumping is very costly, if not impossible, and a great quantity of valuable oil is thus not obtainable after the gas pressure of the lower zones has decreased to a certain value.

Heretofore varioustypes of equipment havebeen used for admitting fluid from more than one formation into a well production tubing, such as those of -the'E. P. Halliburton Patent No. 1,834,946 issued December 8, 1931, and the J. E. Gosline Patent No. 2,074,608 issued March 23, 1937. Both of these utilize slidable sleeve valves adapted to open portsthrough the wall of a tubing string by moving the entire upper portion of the string upwardly or downwardly as by jacks or hoisting apparatus at the surface of the earth. This has the disadvantage of requiring that such hoisting equipment, which usually involves a complete derrick structure, be left in place over the well frequently.

t is used only in- It is an object of this invention to provide an adjustable flow control means through the wall of a string of tubing at a predetermined point, that may be installed and removed by means of a wire line and suitable setting tool. without movement or disturbance of the string of tubing or material alteration of the well production con ditions.

Another object is to provide a well tubing port control that interferes the least with the normal arrangement and strength of a tubing string, is economical to build and install, and which has a part which may be readily removed and replaced for alteration of its flow control characteristics.

Another object is to provide a tubing port control with an open bore which will permit the passage of well surveying equipment, such as pressure recorders and the like.

These and other objects and advantages. will be more fully apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, which forms'a part of this specification and illustrates a preferred embodiment of this invention, as well as an alternative form.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a well tubing port control adapted to be positioned on a long tapered seat in a coupling at a predetermined point in a tubing string.

Figure 2 is a similar vertical sectional view of an alternative form of port control in which packing cups are used to insure a tight seal between the ported sleeve and the tubing wall.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to Figure 1, the reference numeral l0 designates the well tubing, adjacent sections being connected by a threaded coupling. II, the latter being placed at the point where it is desired that fluid be passed inwardly or outwardlly through the tubing string. The coupling H is provided with a bore I! of restricted diameter, above which is a tapered seat IS on which the ported member or sleeve I4 is adapted to rest. Intermediate the ends of the coupling are one or morepassages or ports l5 extending through the coupler wall, and preferably connected at their inner ends by an annular passage groove It. The hollow ported sleeve member I is provided with a tapered lower portion l8 adapted to seat on taper I: of the coupling. In order to provide a fluid connection between the annular groove l6 and ports IS in coupling II, and the inside of tubing string ill, means such as one or more passages or ports I9 extend along, or in this case, through the wall of sleeve member H. In this embodiment (Figure 1) the complementary tapered portions II and groove l6, so as to form a seal for them and insure the passage of fluid inwardly or outwardly only through those ports. In order to prevent .sand, which may be produced with the oil, from settling around the upper part of sleeve I l and the.inner wall of the tubing l0 and coupling Ii,

it is desirable to provide a number of circulation slots, holes or passages 20 through the wall of member I4 so that when it is in position they will be at or just above the upper end of tapered bore l3. The agitation of the liquid around the upper end of sleeve M will cause it to wash such sand accumulations inwardly through these passages.

It is contemplated that ports 15 through the coupling H, which remains in the well tubing ill, will be of such size and number as to pass the maximum fluid quantity desired under the allow,- able pressure differential. A number of removable sleeve members l4 with graduated port numbers and diameters will be provided for any one installation, so that the desired size may be installed and the desired fluid flow will be obtained. The removable sleeve element I 4 may readily be set in place in coupling II or removed therefrom by well-known devices adapted to be lowered or raised by means of a conventional wire line. If it is desired completely to close the ports IS, a blank sleeve, 1. e. one with no ports there'through, obviously could be placed in the coupling to seal off the ports l5. Also, instead of groove or recess 16 being in the coupling, it could equally well be placed in the sleeve M to fulfill the same purpose described above.

. The alternative embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 2, is generally the same as that just described, but has the following difierences. It will be noted that the tapered bore l3a merely serves to support the removable sleeve element Ila .in'the coupling Ila, and the latter is sealed by means such as two flexible packing rings 2|, secured to the outside of sleeve element Ma by threaded rings or collars 22. The annular space 16a between the ends of the rings 2| serves to connect the ports l5 and I9 together and to each other in the same manner as groove I6 of Figure 1, so that the said ports will be in fluid communication for any position of the sleeve member on its seat.

In operation, the coupling II will be installed at the desired point in the tubing string II], for

example, according to the teaching of the J. E. Gosline Patent No. 2,074,608 referred to above, the number and size of ports l5'being previously proportioned pass the maximum quantity of fluid through e tubing wall. A removable sleeve element M or Ma having the desired number and size of ports H to restrict the said flow to the desired value is then set in place as shown, using the well-known equipment which is available for such purposes.' If trial should show the fluid flow to be difierent from that desired under the conditions of operation, the sleeve element 14 or Ida can readily be removed and another of different port area substituted.

It will be appreciated that the use of this deand i8 extend above and below ports I5 and i9 vice is not limited to the modes of operation of a well described herein, or in the patents referred to above, these being merely illustrative. Also, modifications and changes obviously could be made without departing from the essential fea tures of the invention, and all such that fall within the scope of the appended claims are embraced thereby.

I claim:

1. A device for controlling the flow of fluid through the wall of a tubing string or the like, comprising means in said tubing forming a seat,

.a port through the wall of said tubing, a hollow sleeve member adapted to rest on said seat without materially obstructing the bore of said tubing, and a passage in said last named member so constructed and arranged as to provide fluid communication between said port and the interior of said tubing.

2. A device for controlling the flow of fluid through the wall of a tubing string or the like, according to claim 1, with the addition of means forming'an annular passage around said sleeve, so that said port and said passage will be in fluid communication for any position of said sleeve on said seat.

3. A device for controlling the flow of fluid through the wall of a tubing string or the like, according to claim 1, in which said passage extends through the wall of said sleeve.

4. A device for controlling the flow of fluid through the wall of a tubing string or the like, according to claim 1, in which said seat extends on each'side of said port and is adapted to form a fluid seal therefor.

5. A device for controlling the flow of fluid through the wall of a tubing string or the like, according to claim 1, in which said sleeve is provided with fluid sealing means on each side of said passage therein.

6. A well tubing port control of the type'described, comprising a tubing coupling, a port through said coupling wall, a sleeve adapted to be supported in said coupling to cover said port, and a passage in said sleeve so constructed and arranged as to provide restricted fluid communication between said port and the interior of said tubing coupling.

7. A well'tubing port control of the type described in claim 6 with the addition of means associated with said sleeve to form an annular passage therearound and to-form a seal for said port and said passage.

.8. A well tubing port control of the type described in claim 6 with the addition of circulation passages through said sleeve to prevent sand accumulating between said sleeve and said tubing.

9. A well tubing port control of the type described, comprising a tubing coupling, a downwardly tapering seat in said coupling, a port through the wall of "said coupling intermediate the ends of said seat, and a sleeve adapted to' rest in said seat and provided with a restricted passage connecting said port with the interior of said tubing coupling.

ALBERT M. CHRISMAN. 

